Temporary notes:
This directory was staged on November 15, 2024, starting with a copy and quick edit of the Mid-Year Poll directory. Consider it still under construction. Please point out any errors or confusion, and ask any questions.
Voting for the 2024 Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll is now open. Results will be posted at ArtsFuse and here, probably the first week of January, 2025.
This is where the Poll results will be published (after January 1, 2025). In the meantime, voters should consult the following files for more information:
Ballot invitations were sent out to people on the jazzpoll [at] hullworks.net email list on November 15. Deadline for ballots is Sunday, December 15.
If you have voted in previous polls but didn't receive an invite, please use the invitation link above. If you haven't voted in past polls but are an active jazz critic or journalist, we would like to hear from you. It would save some time if you went straight to the invitation and sent in a ballot. If you see this and know someone who should be voting, please refer them to this page and invitation.This notice will be removed before the results are finally posted (although some will remain under Additional Notes below). Additional files may be added along the way.
Francis Davis founded The Annual Jazz Critics Poll in 2006. It was published by The Village Voice through 2011. It has since been picked up by Rhapsody (), NPR (), and ArtsFuse (since 2021). The Poll was supervised by Davis through 2021, with various degrees of help from Tom Hull, who keeps it going, and manages this website.
Ballot invitations were sent out on November 15 (see letter. Deadline for submissions is Sunday, December 15. The Poll will be published by ArtsFuse shortly after January 1, 2025.
One change to the website as of 2023 is that album titles in the complete results and ballots files have a link (look for →) which will print out a list of everyone who voted for the album. From there, you can get to the ballots for each voter.
New Releases and Rara Avis (historical releases, including reissues and compilations of previously released material, or previously unreleased music recorded 10+ years ago). The points system was revised in the 2024 Mid-Year Poll, and is adopted here: Ranked lists are given extra points: up to 3.0 for New Releases, or 2.0 for Rara Avis.
Voters are asked to pick up to 10 New Releases and/or up to 5 Rara Avis. The Poll draws a dividing line between these categories at 10 years (so anything recorded in 2014 or earlier should be considered Rara Avis). These rules are not rigidly enforced. If any records get votes in the wrong category, we will note that, and may add points in the correct category.
The Poll also asks voters for picks in categories that often get overlooked in top ten lists: Vocal Jazz, Latin Jazz, and Debut. Up through 2023, we asked voters to pick one album in each category (the top-ranked album in the top-ten, if there is one). Starting in 2024, voters may name up to three records in each category, in addition to any eligible records they picked in the top-ten.
The following pieces were published in Arts Fuse:
The 0 voter ballots are presented in batches of 20 ballots:
The complete list of voting critics, with links to individual ballots, is here.
Methodology
Voters were asked to submit a list of up to 10 new jazz albums, released any time in 2024, or recently discovered from 2023. Lists should be ranked in descending order (from 1 to 10), or may be marked as unranked (in which case, they should be alphabetized by artist name). Unranked lists are scored one point each. Ranked lists are awarded extra points, ranging from 3.0 for 1st place to 1.0 for 10th.
Voters were also asked to submit a list of up to 5 Rara Avis jazz albums (reissues, compilations, and/or archival material recorded more than 10 years ago (i.e., 2014 or earlier). Lists should be ranked in descending order (from 1 to 5), or may be marked as unranked (in which case, they should be alphabetized by artist name). Unranked lists are scored one point each. Ranked lists are awarded extra points, ranging from 3.0 for 1st place to 1.0 for 5th.
For the Vocal, Latin, and Debut categories, voters were asked to submit up to three albums (unranked) per category, in addition to any albums they designate from their main lists to be counted in these categories.
Critics were asked to refrain from voting for any CD in which they were directly involved as performer, producer, annotator, or in any capacity whatsoever.
Additional Notes
Notes for Voters: We've written up some additional notes to help voters, especially where questions may arise on definitions, including album eligibility. This information is not classified "top secret," but is probably uninteresting unless you have been invited to vote.
We should establish a contact link here. Until then, you may use this one, which will reach Tom Hull.